• The Lloyd home in the Harvard-Yale neighborhood was remodeled while keeping to a $75 per square foot budget, which forced owner/architect Warren Lloyd to "reduce, reuse and recycle material." Inside, you saw trim made from joists salvaged during the demolition of an old building on Pierpoint Avenue. In the kitchen, you were drawn to the mosaic tile — made by Oceanside from recycled glass. In the bathrooms, you were unable to guess that the countertops are made of densely pressed paper. You noted the use of Japanese-style shoji shades on the north windows. They hide the neighbor's home while still letting in lots of light. The kitchen cabinets were made by Ervin Raber (13238 TR 473, Lakeville, Ohio). Raber is Amish, so no power tools — and thus no electricity — were used in their construction.

• The 2,005-square-foot Steckel home follows the principles of "not so big" and broke ground for a historic/solar home in the Avenues. Eight solar panels have been placed discreetly on the roof to provide for all the home's hot-water needs and radiant heat in the floors. (There is also a boiler, in case of too many weeks of a temperature inversion.) Architects estimate a seven-year payback. Insulation is cellulose (recycled newspapers). Interior trim is made from recycled 2-by-4s. The original 1891 home was 400 square feet, and architects Ken Pollard and Alex Steckel feature the old brick walls, in their uncovered state, inside. They also kept the 1911 porch/addition. The house is on the market for $699,000. Steckel believes the new permitting process done on this home (for which he credits Mayor Rocky Anderson) will keep costs down for future historic/solar remodels.

• At the home of Michael and Nina Vought (owners/architects), a visitor could be heard to complain to Michael Vought about the difficulty of finding contractors who want to work in an environmentally forward-thinking way. The tour guide explained that the house is so well insulated, and was designed with high ceilings with windows at the top and bottom of the south-facing walls — and the result is no need for air-conditioning. The Voughts just keep the house closed up during the summer days. Then, when the sun goes down, they open all the windows and the hot air rises and is gone — through passive convection. The guide also pointed out the stove, made by Kenmore, which can sense the size of the pan and never heat an area bigger than it needs to.

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E-mail: susan@desnews.com